News & Notes

With the free-agent frenzy slowing down a bit, news out of the NHL has slowed to a trickle. Yesterday, Sherry Ross evaluated the local clubs' off-season performances so far. Though she credited the Rangers for a job well done, Ross added that the Rangers may have been better off signing one of Drury and Gomez, and adding a stud defenseman instead. It's tough to say. The depth the Blueshirts have at center now is among the best in the NHL. Drury can play both ends pretty well. But Ross is right, their defense is still a potential weakness.

Larry Brooks feels the hiring of Brent Sutter as coach of the Devils gives that team a better shot than it would have had without him. He writes, "The Devils may have lost Scott Gomez and Brian Rafalski to free agency this month. But the addition of Brent Sutter - tough, independent and resourceful - leaves the franchise ahead for the summer."

In that same piece, Brooks discusses Michal Rozsival's impending unrestricted free agency after this season, saying the defenseman could fetch "at least $6 million per on a long term deal" next summer. Rozsival may be the best defensive defenseman on the team. But we wonder, with all of the young defensemen in the organization, if the Rangers would bother re-signing Rozsival next summer. It'll be an interesting decision for King Sather and his staff.

As a side note, Brooks predicts that Bobby Holik could be one of the most sought-after trade deadline acquisitions this season, and he says there's every chance the Rangers and Devils would both be among the interested parties. Please, Mr. Sather... don't subject us to Bobby Holik again. Too many bad memories that we'd prefer not to relive.

Scott Gomez, who lost a puck flip with Chris Drury to wear the No. 23 with the Rangers that both recent signees wore for the Devils and the Sabres, respectively, offered Blair Betts $10,000 for his No. 19. When Betts refused the money but agreed to find another number (he'll wear 15), Gomez donated the money to the Garden of Dreams Foundation to help kids in crisis. "When I was a kid, I always wore No. 11 or 19," Gomez said, "and I didn't think the people at the Garden would be very happy with me if I [asked for] No. 11."

Gomez is already making a difference in New York, and he hasn't even taken the ice yet.